he praised Cicero as a poet, a praise which he gave "contrary to the
opinion of Juvenal." But Juvenal has given no opinion of Cicero's
poetry, having simply quoted one unfortunate line noted for its
egotism, and declared that Cicero would never have had his head cut
off had his philippics been of the same nature.[36] The evidence of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola as to Cicero's poetry was perhaps better, as
he had the means, at any rate, of reading it. He believed that
the Marius, a poem written by Cicero in praise of his great
fellow-townsman, would live to posterity forever. The story of the old
man's prophecy comes to us, no doubt, from Cicero himself, and is put
into the mouth of his brother;[37] but had it been untrue it would
have been contradicted.

The Glaucus was a translation from the Greek done by a boy, probably
as a boy's lesson It is not uncommon that such exercises should be
treasured by parents, or perhaps by the performer himself, and not
impossible that they should be made to reappear afterward as original
compositions. Lord Brougham tells us in his autobiogiaphy that in his
early youth he tried his hand at writing English essays, and even
tales of fiction.[38] "I find one of these," he says, "Has survived
the waste-paper basket, and it may amuse my readers to see the sort
of composition I was guilty of at the age of thirteen. My tale was
entitled 'Memnon, or Human Wisdom,' and is as follows." Then we have
a fair translation of Voltaire's romance, "Memnon," or "La Sagesse
Humaine." The old lord, when he was collecting his papers for his
autobiography, had altogether forgotten his Voltaire, and thought that
he had composed the story! Nothing so absurd as that is told of Cicero
by himself or on his behalf.

It may be as well to say here what there may be to be said as to